The leader of the U.S. House of Representativesagreed Wednesday to a vote this week on aid for Superstorm Sandy recovery,changing course after coming under intense pressure from angry fellowRepublicans.
The speaker will schedule a vote Friday for $9 billion forthe national flood insurance program and another on Jan. 15 for a remaining $51billion in the package, Republican Rep. Peter King of New York said afteremerging from a meeting with Boehner and Republican lawmakers from New York andNew Jersey. The votes will be taken by the new Congress that will be sworn inThursday.
Boehner's decision Tuesday night to cancel an expected voteon the storm aid before Congress ends its current session had provoked afirestorm of criticism from New York, New Jersey and adjacent states, includingmany lawmakers in his own party.
According to King, Boehner explained that after thecontentious vote this week to avoid major tax increases and spending cutscalled the "fiscal cliff," Boehner didn't think it was the right timeto schedule the vote before the current Congress went out of business.
King left the session with Boehner without the anger thatled him to lash out at the speaker Tuesday night.
"What's done is done. The end result will be New York,New Jersey and Connecticut will receive the funding they deserve. We made ourposition clear last night. That's in the past," King said.
Sandy was blamed for at least 120 deaths and batteredcoastline areas from North Carolina to Maine in October. New York, New Jerseyand Connecticut were the hardest hit states and suffered high winds, floodingand storm surges.
It was the most costly natural disaster since Hurricane Katrinadevastated New Orleans in 2005 and one of the worst storms ever in theNortheast.
"Getting critical aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandyshould be the first priority in the new Congress, and that was reaffirmed todaywith members of the New York and New Jersey delegations," Boehner said ina joint statement with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
King said Boehner assured the lawmakers present that themoney from the two House votes would roughly equal the $60 billion package ofaid that passed the Senate on Friday.
The House Appropriations Committee has drafted a smaller,$27 billion measure for immediate recovery needs and a second amendment for $33billion to meet longer-term needs.
The $9 billion in flood insurance money to be voted onFriday was originally in the $27 billion measure. The votes on Jan. 15 will befor $18 billion in immediate assistance and $33 billion for longer-termprojects, including projects to protect against future storms, King said.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, was amongthose sharply criticizing Boehner before the speaker changed course.
Christie said he was frustrated after Boehner withdrew thebill Tuesday night and tried to call him four times that night, but none of thecalls were returned. Christie complained about the "toxic internalpolitics" of the House majority. Christie said he had worked hard topersuade House members to support Sandy aid, and was given assurances byRepublican leaders that the bill would be voted on before Thursday.
"There is no reason for me at the moment to believeanything they tell me," Christie said before Boehner announced there wouldbe votes this month.
Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, issueda joint statement, saying, "The fact that days continue to go by whilepeople suffer, families are out of their homes, and men and women remainjobless and struggling during these harsh winter months is a dereliction ofduty."
King was among an angry chorus of New York and New Jerseylawmakers from both parties who blasted Boehner. He had branded Boehner'sinitial decision to pull the bill a "cruel knife in the back" to NewYork and New Jersey.
In considering the Sandy aid package, the speaker was caughtbetween conservative lawmakers who want to offset any increase in spending andNortheast and mid-Atlantic lawmakers determined to help their states recovermore than two months after the storm hit.
The criticism of Boehner on the House floor was personal attimes, and reflected in part the frustration among rank-and-file over thedecision to press ahead with a vote on the "fiscal cliff deal. Boehner hadbeen struggling with conservatives who complained that the economic packagedidn't include enough spending cuts.
Reps. Michael Grimm, a Republican, and Jerrold Nadler, aDemocrat, said in angry House floor remarks that while they did not agree onmuch, Boehner's decision amounted to a "betrayal" and a crushing blowto states battered by the storm.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, raised thepolitical temperature even more. She said Boehner should explain his decisionto families whose homes and businesses were destroyed, and added: "But Idoubt he has the dignity nor the guts to do it."
President Barack Obama called for House Republicans to voteon the Sandy aid "without delay for our fellow Americans." Thepresident said in a written statement that many people recovering from thestorm need "immediate support with the bulk of winter still in front ofus."